RISMEDIA, August 7, 2010—In a high-touch industry such as real estate, technology is a great tool in helping agents build relationships with their clients. Here, Darryl Davis, president, Darryl Davis Seminars discusses how real estate professionals shouldn’t become too dependent on technology as they may lose focus on what is really necessary to increase production—face-to-face interaction.
Darryl Davis
President
Darryl Davis Seminars
www.darryldavisseminars.com
I see more and more agents—and companies—focusing on the great technologies that are available in our industry. My concern, especially for agents, is that there may be too much focus on technology, losing focus of what is really necessary to increase production.
We’ve all heard this: technology is low touch and real estate is a high-touch business. Our industry is very much about building relationships. I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that yes, technology can help agents take steps toward helping this relationship along, but it still comes down to that face-to-face interaction.
Utilizing the vast number of networks available online as well as websites and other online resources, real estate agents can go some of the way toward establishing trust with potential clients. But if an agent doesn’t know what to say, when to say it, or how to say it when face-to-face with a buyer or seller, all the Facebook fans in the world won’t make them any money.
Listing and selling skills are what an agent needs to continuously improve, especially in today’s market, if they want to dramatically increase their production. I do believe technology is important to our business, especially in helping to attract leads, but once you get the business, you have to know how to close it.
For these reasons, if an agent focuses too much on technology but not on honing and cultivating their listing and selling skills, they’ll likely be going down the path of going out of business. In a real estate market like the one we face now, it takes the right mix of communication to enable a buyer or seller to make the best decision for their home-buying or -selling future. In today’s market, it’s more important than ever for an agent to have skills.
So to summarize, as new and better technology comes into our industry, it’s important that agents don’t lose sight of the fact that they need to keep improving their listing and selling skills—that’s how an agent can dramatically increase their production and, therefore, increase the bottom line for a company.
